"Spicy, are you asleep?" Mingshen craned his neck to peek at Jia, who was sleeping with her back turned at him.
"I won’t be able to if you keep asking that question now, will I?"
"I was just wondering why do you have to sleep so far away from ?"
"Do I have a particular reason to sleep close to you?"
Jia pressed her lips, hugging the blanket closer to her chest. The only reason she was maintaining distance a little more than necessary was so that Mingshen wouldn’t realize her insomnia. She didn’t want Mingshen to see her struggle getting sleep. That was the entire reason she wanted to sleep in the living room.
But unknown to her, Mingshen already held a faint realization of her problem. He slowly turned on his side facing her, staring at her back. He rembered how Jia had stepped out in the middle of the night the night she stayed over at the Yang mansion.
What is Spicy thinking about?
Is she thinking about her parents because I couldn’t control my damn mouth?
Will she not be able to sleep tonight?
"Spicy."
"Hm?"
"Let’s play a ga."
Jia opened her eyes that were not even remotely close to falling asleep. She knitted her brows and turned to his side.
"Is it too painful to sleep?"
Mingshen held her gaze with a light smile.
It feels too painful to see you awake, Spicy...
That solemn expression dissipated as quickly as it ca and he grinned. "A little bit. So join in my quest to get my beauty sleep."
She raised her brow. "A ga is going to help you with that?"
"Feeling exhausted is one way to get a good night’s sleep. Or do you prefer for us to engage in a different kind of exhaustion activity~? He blushed.
"What is the ga?" She ignored his sexual comntary and ca to the point.
Mingshen pouted at her disinterest. "That day of you preferring the latter will co for sure."
She rolled her eyes. "What do you want to play?"
He gave it a thought and said, "Let’s play word association~ I will say a word and from there, we say the first thing that cos to our mind that associates with it. The one who takes more than 2 seconds to answer loses."
Jia found it to be a pretty simple ga. "Cool."
"Whenever you lose, you inch closer to my side~"
Jia scoffed at his smirk. "Fine then. If you lose-"
"You cannot make a patient with a back sprain move."
She sneered. "I can surely earn so silence. For every loss, you keep quiet for an hour tomorrow. So two losses, two hours, three losses, three hours and so on..."
He burst into tears. "Spicy, that’s harsh!"
She smiled. "You suggested the ga and the bets. Deal with it."
He snorted. "I just don’t have to let you win. Deal."
"Let’s see about that."
Mingshen smiled. "Fine. Let start with the first word. Hmm...Fire."
Jia quickly answered the first word that ca to her mind. "Hot."
He chuckled. "You."
"..."
Two seconds passed and Mingshen smirked in victory. "Hah! I win~ Co closer~"
Jia’s jaw dropped. "That is-"
"Not cheating at all so co closer already."
Jia’s gaze darkened and she grudgingly bridged so gap. She glared at him. "No sexual references!"
"Sorry, the ga has already started. Rule ti passed a long ti ago."
She sneered. "Fine. You won’t take by surprise again. I am ready. My turn this ti."
"Go ahead," his eyes twinkled.
Jia thought the safest word she could think of. "Ocean."
Mingshen said, "Blue."
"Sky."
"Clouds."
"Soft."
"Bed~"
Jia’s mouth twitched but she remained undeterred. "Warm."
"Cuddle."
Jia bead. "Cats!"
"Naughty."
"Children," her eyes shone.
"Play."
"Win."
"~"
Jia’s brow twitched. "Devil."
He smiled. "Yours."
Jia coughed hard and she thanked the Gods that she was lying on the bed and not standing, lest she would have stumbled. She couldn’t think of a word to continue from there.
"Ding, ding, ding! Ah the bed is getting cosier. Co closer Spicy~" he chuckled devilishly.
Jia thought he would say sothing along the lines of handso or charismatic or his usual narcissistic adjectives. She muttered under her breath and shifted closer.
"This feels so much better Spicy~"
Damn it, I am gonna win the third round!
"It’s my turn now~"
Suddenly, Jia got a bad feeling.
His eyes glistened with mischief. "Kiss."
This useless devil! I knew it!
Jia babbled before ti ran out. "Lips!"
She shut her eyes, feeling embarrassed.
Mingshen stared at her lips and said, "Delicious."
"..."
"F-Food!"
Mingshen lowered his voice into a whisper. "Hungry."
"Hungry for what!?" She glared and exclaid.
"That’s three words. You lose. Co on, land right into my arms~"
Jia angrily laughed. "You did that on purpose!"
He lazily arched his brow. "Did what?"
"Whispering into my ear!" Her nostrils flared.
"How is it my fault?" He pouted. "Don’t bla your losses on ."
Jia was forced to snuggle closer until hardly any space was left between them. Mingshen grinned, extrely happy.
The battle continued for many, many rounds with Jia unable to win a single one. By the ti two hours passed, her heart was filled with grievance and her eyes with sleep.
"My turn to win for sure..." she said with a yawn, "Moon."
"Night."
"Dreams..."
Mingshen paused for a mont but eventually tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Happy."
Jia grinned with another yawn. "Ending."
"Beginning."
Jia paused, her eyes fluttering shut for a mont as the words lingered in the air. Her lips curved into a faint smile, her exhaustion finally catching up to her.
"Story..."
Her steady breathing signaled that she had drifted off to sleep. Mingshen watched her, his gaze fixed at her peaceful expression. He settled her against his chest, the quiet of the room wrapping around them and for once, the night felt as peaceful as her sleeping face.
He leaned closer and bumped his head against her forehead, his voice barely above a murmur.
"Ours."
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